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Title details for Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - Available

Mrs. Dalloway

by Virginia Woolf
Helen Lloyd
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available

'She had the perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very, dangerous to live even one day.'

Virginia Woolf's most famous 'stream of consciousness' novel, 'Mrs. Dalloway', records the events of one June day in 1923 - the day on which Clarissa Dalloway is hosting a party in her London home. The novel continues to fascinate and challenge, hinting at homosexuality, mental illness, racial prejudice, infidelity, and unrequited love. It presents a perfect picture of London between the wars, in an England where the class system is still firmly entrenched while carrying throughout an undercurrent of rage at the resulting inequalities.

"Mrs. Dalloway is the reverse side of a novel of action. It is a chronicle of thought, unforgettably done".Atlanta Constitution Review 1925"Clarissa's day, the impressions she gives and receives, the memories and recognitions which stir in her, the events which are initiated remotely and engineered almost to touching distance of the impervious Clarissa, capture in a definitive matrix the drift of thought and feeling in a period, the point of view of a class, and seem almost to indicate the strength and weakness of an entire civilization."New York Times Review 1925

'Mrs. Dalloway' is the second Virginia Woolf novel to be released as an audiobook by Raconteurs Audio in association with Spoken Realms, narrated by Helen Lloyd.

'Mrs. Dalloway' was originally published in May 1925 and is in the public domain.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 17, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9798200738380
      • File size: 212317 KB
      • Duration: 07:22:19

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 950
    • Text Difficulty: 5-6

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Virginia Leishman gives a fine performance of this audiobook. Virginia Woolf's novel captures a day in the title character's life and intersperses throughout that day Clarissa Dalloway's stream-of-consciousness reminiscences. The novel can be difficult to follow at times, but hearing it performed aids in comprehension. Leishman's crisp voice goes far in lending direction to challenging prose and adding interest to moments that at first seem insignificant. Mrs. Dalloway is a woman on the verge of the next stage of her life, and hearing the novel performed offers the reader a glimpse into the fears, hopes, and inevitable changes that next stage will certainly bring. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 30, 2010
      As Clarissa Dalloway prepares to host a party in 1920s London, she is unexpectedly reunited with her old friend Peter Walsh in a novel that shifts among the inner monologues of its many characters and is darkened by the terrors and hallucinations of parallel protagonist Septimus Smith. Juliet Stevenson’s performance—with its lyricism and lilt—is perfectly matched to Woolf’s text and transports the listener. Stevenson produces a delightful range of distinct voices—her introspective, fragile Clarissa and stormy Peter are particularly strong.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Phyllida Law's beautiful reading may be the perfect way to experience Woolf's modernist masterpiece. As Clarissa Dalloway goes through a day in June in London just after WWI, a day on which she is giving a party, the narrative takes her to her youth in memory, to her first loves, then forward and back again in time to the people she has admired, to the woman she has become, the marriage she has made, and her anxieties for her daughter, so different from herself. Woolf weaves in threads of people whose lives intersect Clarissa's, from the servants to the royal family, until we see a perfect portrait of a moment in place and time. Throughout, Law's ability to render distinctions of class, of age, of sex and of temperment is glorious, and makes for a gem of a literary experience. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Published in 1925 and showing the influence of Freud and Joyce, this perceptive, richly textured novel follows the title's society matron through one seemingly insignificant June day. In the hands of a mediocre interpreter, the whole exercise would sound tediously empty. Fortunately, Eileen Atkins, whose one-woman show on Woolf, A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN, captivated The West End and Broadway, displays a thorough intimacy with both style and subtext. She vigorously shares her insight, along with her excellent taste and technique, with the listener. Technically not as fine as the writing and performance, this recording nonetheless stands out as an important work beautifully delivered. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      This audiobook, one of Woolf's most famous novels, takes place over the course of one day, following Clarissa Dalloway as she prepares to host a party. The past and present overlap in Clarissa's memory as she interacts with a broad range of characters. Woolf's stream-of-consciousness style has a halting, labored air as narrator Helen Lloyd makes her way through repetitive sentences and abrupt shifts. Lloyd's voice is lovely, and her skill as a narrator is clear, but this novel does not make the best use of these qualities. That said, some listeners may prefer the audio to the print version because it does get the story across efficiently. For other listeners, Woolf's prose may come across as too stilted and cold. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:950
  • Text Difficulty:5-6

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